Ignorance does NOT trump expertise

Most people feel it is wise to never offer an opinion on a subject in which you personally have no experience.  In health care matters, one does not ask the opinion of a cashier; in matters of law enforcement, one asks a lawyer or police officer, not the paper boy.  We understand that when we know nothing about a certain subject, we cannot offer an expert opinion.

Would you go up to a brain surgeon, as a layman, and tell him I don't think your theory on neural ganglia is correct?  I have never spent an hour studying neural networks, but I feel that I am sufficiently educated on the subject to offer my negative opinion.

Or would you say to a rocket scientist, that he/she really shouldn't have to account for the gravitational field of the sun when sending a rocket to the moon, because they are on the opposite sides of the planet?  Do you feel that your opinion is valuable?

Or would you point out to a concert pianist that they really don't need to worry about rhythm or cadence, because that is the job of the conductor or percussionist.

Or would you walk into a gun shop and tell the gunsmith that is shouldn't be necessary to clean a weapon after firing a few hundred rounds through it, even though you have never shot, nor even owned a firearm?

And yet....

Atheist and agnostics feel completely comfortable in their ignorance of religion to claim that there is no God, and to claim they understand the Bible; even though they have never read a single word it contains nor spent any time becoming an expert in Biblical Studies.

Why do you feel it is perfectly acceptable to impinge your ignorance of the spiritual realm to someone who has spent decades studying the Bible, and can explain to you nuances of spirituality that you have never experienced?

Why is it perfectly acceptable for you to judge an expert in an area from a position of complete ignorance of the subject, simply because it is in the area of spirituality? Why is it that you think that, because you know absolutely nothing about the Bible, you can impugn an expert.

How many decades have you spent reading the written Word? How many years have you spent doing comparative studies between multiple translations and outside literature? How many hours have you spent searching for the nuances between passages?  When did you become a Biblical Scholar? What I see is an ignorant Neophyte and your opinion on the value of the Scriptures is less than worthless.

Why do you feel it is perfectly okay to tell people that the Bible may contain the truth, when you have never read a single word in the Bible, and have no idea what truth it may contain? I find it simply amazing that you feel your utter lack of research qualifies you to dispute the validity of a subject you have spent no time contemplating.

Why do you think that ignorance trumps expertise?

Try that line of reasoning with any other area of study, and see how far you get.

Media bias gone bad

The Liberal media should be ashamed of themselves. Over the years they have decried the fact that government has been very closed to them, and that they cannot report the news as they wanted to, because they were being blocked by government officials. The Bush administration gave the media unprecedented access to the Iraqi war, and yet the media still complained. Now the media has the administration in power that they have always wanted and what do they do? They roll over and wait for the President and Congress to rub their bellies with their chosen stories. And despite the media's love for our President, the government has done more behind closed doors before than during the whole eight years of Bush. The media is no longer the government watch dog, they are the government lap dog. The media have always wanted to be the fourth branch of government. They have claimed that very fact for centuries, well all I can say is "Congratulations, you have gotten your wish."

I have never been so ashamed of our media. I went to college and got a degree in journalism, but I hate to admit that now. Their hypocrisy has gotten out of hand. When a Muslim terrorist attempts to kill a large number of American citizens we are told that Islam is a religion of peace, and that we cannot judge all Muslims from the actions of a few extremists. And yet the current anger, being directed towards the liberal democrats who passed this unwelcome bill upon us, is totally blown out of proportion. The actions of a few are projected onto the whole movement. Our liberal media has made unsubstantiated claims of vandalism and hate speech into major media events and even claimed that the Tea Party Movement is nothing short of terrorists. Some of the stories written by the press have no backing in truth; there are no corroborating witnesses to some of the so-called hate speech incidents, and some of the stories have actually been made up. We are not terrorists, we are patriotic Americans who are madder than wet bees over our elected officials, technically our employees, screwing us from behind. And all our alleged government watch dog has done is turn on us and make us into the enemy.

I have a right to be angry, and not be slandered by some idiot with a pen. I have right to voice my opinion about the way I feel we have been mistreated. How dare you twist the facts to discredit me for exercising what I feel is my right to free speech, while you claim you are exercising your right to free press.